Here are the results of the All Japanese Sampler pack .....

[wimbouman]

A while ago I bought this beauty of a sampler pack of member dridiot:

That was quite some experience! I did meant to make my shaving safari as scientific as possible using a predetermined setup - but then Leon sent me the Semogue 1305 which finally cracked the code of my Kent MWF.

Anyway, I had some fun the past period!

The final judgment is that I like all blades. Feathers are nice, so are Kai (not much of a looker though, those Kai blades). Shoguns I am not so sure of, I might like my trusted Derby's better.

But, one can tell by the reviews or by where one puts his money. Gentlemen, I have to admit I just ordered 200 new Feather blades!

.

 

[DanOK]

I agree I just got 250 from Pauldog last week.

 

[mretzloff]

How exactly do the Shogun compare to the Feathers, in terms of sharpness and smoothness?

 

[wimbouman]

How exactly do the Shogun compare to the Feathers, in terms of sharpness and smoothness?

Based on my limited experience, I would say that in terms of sharpness, Feather and Shogun are in the same league. I get real close and comfortable
shaves with both blades, and Shogun is giving me good results with WTG shaves only. So, I think that is impressive.

On the smoothness side, I think the Feather outperforms the Shogun.

It might resemble kitchen knives, with classic European knives being just as sharp as Japanese ones, but the latter just a bit stiffer, just a bit more smooth.

And as I mentioned, it is just a samper pack so experience is limited.
But I noticed that as soon as I wanted to order new blades, it was a close call between the Derby's and the Feathers.
Jason gave me some fair quotes, so in the end a decision had to be made and it turned out to be the Feathers.

But, YMMV!

 

[kingfisher]

How exactly do the Shogun compare to the Feathers, in terms of sharpness and smoothness?

I only tried one Shogun, so I might have gotten a bum blade, but the one I tried was as dull as a Dorco.

I like the Kai blades, though. That's my go-to blade.